See SHAKESPEARE anew in this powerful combination of tradition and different cultures.

Back in 1990, the globe-trotting, cutting-edge Japanese playwright and director NODA Hideki premiered “Richard Sandaime” (“Third-generation, Richard”), a play loosely based on SHAKESPEARE’s “Richard III” that he staged with his theatre company Yume no Yuminsha (Dreaming Bohemian) and set in a courtroom with Richard the defendant and the Bard his prosecutor.
Now, one of Asia’s leading theatre directors, Singaporean ONG Keng Sen, is set to tackle this thought-provoking work with top actors from Singapore and Indonesia — and a fabulous Balinese shadow-play performer — alongside a varied Japanese cast comprising Kabuki actor NAKAMURA Kazutaro, Kyogen actor SHIGEYAMA Doji, KUZE Seika a former star of the all-female Takarazuka theatre troupe and contemporary dramatist EMOTO Junko, who heads her own theatre company, Kegawazoku.
Altogether, by blending together a wide range of Asian cultures, ONG Keng Sen aims to create a colorful and spectacular production that enhances and gives free rein to NODA’s brilliant dialogue.

As the play begins, England’s infamously cruel Richard III faces defeat at the Battle of Bosworth — where both history and William SHAKESPEARE’s “Richard III” record he was killed in 1485. Then, however, the action shifts to a courtroom, where Richard is on trial for murder.
In fact Richard’s defense counsel, Shylock — the villain from “The Merchant of Venice” — contends that the murder was actually committed by the playwright Shakespeare himself, against whom Shylock is determined to revenge himself for having been portrayed as such a bad person by the Bard.
Though in “Richard III” the scheming king fights in vain to keep his crown, in this drama transported to Japan he’s vying to head up its traditional flower-arrangement world, and is accused of killing a rival for that position. Then in court, while Richard protests his innocence and insists he will change his ways, we see SHAKESPEARE countering Shylock’s claim by accusing Richard of harboring even more sinister motives.
Where are these conflicts between the characters and the author heading for in the end?

“Let’s challenge Kyogen, a workshop of Kyogen comedy”

Presenter: SHIGEYAMA Doji, one of the casts of “Richard Sandaime”

3 April
13:30-17:00
At Rehearsal Hall, Shizuoka Performing Arts Park

Contents:
1) A lecture about Kyogen
2) Introduction to the basic movements of Kyogen
3) Let’s create a short Kyogen play

Admission restricted to high-school students and older: ¥1,500 (¥1,000 for under 18s) — both including insurance for the participants.
Reservations — restricted to 20 persons — open on 5 March at 10:00
by telephone and in person at the SPAC ticket center. For more information, call 054-202-3399.

◎Starting 25 minutes before each performance, there will be a pre-performance talk.
◎29 April, there will be a post-performance talk by the artists.

Written by Hideki NODA
Directed by ONG Keng Sen

Performed by NAKAMURA Kazutaro, SHIGEYAMA Doji, Janice KOH,
Jajang C NOER, I Kadek Budi Setiawan, EMOTO Junko, TAKII Miki,
KUZE Seika

Set design: KATO Chika
Lighting: Scott ZIELINSKI
Costume: YANAIHARA Mitsushi
Video: TAKAHASHI Keisuke
Music: YAMANAKA Toru

Produced by SPAC-Shizuoka Performing Arts Center
Co-produced by Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre / Singapore International Festival of Arts
In association with SPAC / Singapore International Festival of Arts / Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre / Kumamoto Prefectural Theater / May Theatre / The Museum of Art, Kochi / Fukuoka City Foundation for Arts and Cultural Promotion
Cooperation by Shochiku
Official Airline: Singapore Airlines
Supported by Motorboat Racing Association and Japan Foundation for Regional Art-Activities